Congressional Committee: Private Sector Jobs Rebound

A new congressional study shows 41 states added private sector jobs in July, but 28 states still saw an increase in unemployment claims for the same month.

The state-by-state report from Congress’ Joint Economic Committee noted that 154,000 private sector jobs were added in July in all states compared to only 88,000 and 99,000 in May and June respectively.

The bicameral committee is made up of 20 lawmakers equally divided between Republicans and Democrats. The panel’s monthly snapshot of the state economies also found that retail sales increased by 0.5 percent in July, marking the strongest gain since March.

July also registered the 24th consecutive month of expansion in the manufacturing sector. But at the same time, the key Institute for Supply Management index dropped to a two-year low of 50.9 percent, an indication that “the pace of recovery may be decelerating,” the committee said.

Some of the other highlights from the committee report included:

• Texas saw the largest expansion of private sector jobs in July, adding 38,700 jobs. It was followed by New York with 14,100 and Pennsylvania with 12,500 new positions. But at the same time Texas and Pennsylvania also recorded “statistically significant” increases in unemployment rates.

• Manufacturing jobs expanded in 32 states in July, with Ohio adding the most at 7,500, followed by Michigan with 4,900, and Tennessee with 4,000.

• New York added the most business and professional jobs with 7,200, and Ohio was second in that category with 6,000.

• Texas added also added 7,500 jobs in the service industries of leisure and hospitality, followed by Colorado with 3,100.